Monday, January 9, 2012

Fried Goat Cheese

Highlights of my day:

First: my mother sent me a picture of our golden retriever, Briar, "doing a craft." He is adorable, and I'm pretty sure Ryan Gosling would cut out Michaels' coupons for him... (here's to hoping that picture made you laugh, as I am afraid I may be one of the few that find that particular Ryan Gosling's picture hilarious)

Second: my father changed his "Words With Friends" name from his email, which was his first and last name (I actually did not know he had even gotten his own e-mail address until I started playing Words with Friends with him, as he usually uses my mother's e-mail for everything), to a derivative of "JustHavingFun." I am confused as to how anyone over the age of 13, let alone my father, would ever even think of choosing something like that as his identification for anything, yet I found it slash I continue to find it hilarious.

Third: dinner... fried goat cheese on a salad! You can eat the fried goat cheese however you want... as an appetizer, as dinner, on a salad. No matter how you eat it, it is really good and very easy to prepare. On that note, you do not have to use 4 oz of goat cheese; just use whatever amount looks good to you. I fried up three pieces of goat cheese, put mine on a spinach salad with some apple slices and walnuts, drizzled honey over it, and turned it into dinner. It was very good (although I still might take Ryan Gosling's cutting out some 40% Michaels' coupons for me over it).

I loosely based this recipe on (and borrowed all of the advice from) this recipe on The Hungry Moose.

Place your log of goat cheese in the freezer for about 15 minutes to make it easier to cut into slices.

Cut your log of goat cheese into slices that are between ¼ and ½ inches thick. You can make this easier by wiping your knife with a warm, wet rag between slices. My last bit of advice for slicing the cheese: do not dismay if your cheese falls apart, as this can easily be remedied by simply pressing the cheese back together with your fingers.

Set up three bowls in a row: flour, beaten egg, bread crumbs.

Take each piece of goat cheese and cover it in flour. Next, dip it into the egg wash and coat it in that. Finally, cover it in bread crumbs.

Once all your goat cheese has been prepared, heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet. When the olive oil is hot, set the goat cheese in the hot oil. The oil will sizzle, and the goat cheese will start cooking. The cheese will brown quickly, and when it does, flip the cheese over and cook it on the other side.

When both sides are brown, remove the fried cheese from the skillet and transfer to whatever dish you plan to serve it on. Serve on a salad, as an appetizer, or as a side or main dish!